Why Instagram Stories is more Preferred than Snapchat Marketing

In the contemporary and neoteric world of technology, updates on existing methods of digital marketing and communication continue to take place. This brings us to the discussion of two powerful tools of social media- Instagram and Snapchat.

Stories are essentially pictures or videos that can be seen for a period of twenty four hours and then disappear. Instagram stories are pictures or videos you can edit and upload within twenty four hours of taking them. You can add location, hashtags, filters, writing and emoticons. On Instagram stories, one can also tag people, locations, and add links.

Snapchat stories are stories that are uploaded as soon as they’re taken. If they get edited, it is shown that the snapchat picture or video hasn’t been directly uploaded. Snapchat features include great live stories, Geofilters (you can spew rainbows, or become a bear, chipmunk, panda, and several other animals along with various facial distortions).

Studies have shown that Instagram stories for marketing are rated much higher than Snapchat stories. This is because Instagram has far defeated Snapchat stories in terms of its ease of use, larger base to market to, as well as additional features like "Boomerang", which is a second video which loops back and forth. Along with these, Instagram also has the added benefit of an existing consumer base to cater to. Instagram stories for business have an upper-hand because they have formed a loyal and larger audience who are interested in the page that they’re following, and are more likely to view this on Instagram rather than Snapchat. Snapchat is still viewed as a "friends" app, where there is more visual interaction with people, and more relevance to their personal lives.

Brands using Instagram stories have reported higher engagement than snapchat stories. For example, according to Ad Age, Nike received 800,000 views on their Instagram story the day this feature was released, and have reported that their highest engagement ever on a Snapchat video has been 66,000 views. They feel that product promotion on Instagram stories has increased sales by linking websites to their Instagram bios.

Another advantage of Instagram stories is that it uses an algorithm to determine what stories are relevant to the user. The Instagram stories are therefore presented in a calculated order Snapchat stories are always shown chronologically.

Snapchat stories existed before Instagram stories did, and so they were the first of their kind. However, there are several aspects that snapchat stories fall short on. One of these pain points for influencers is extremely crucial, as they cannot add a link or a "swipe up" option to their snapchat stories, so the story can’t lead to any direct clicks for them. The quality of Instagram stories also far exceeds snapchat in terms of the fact that you can use your normal camera for Instagram, and the snapchat camera is comparatively more pixilated and unclear.

In terms of quantitative analyses, Instagram shows you your followers, likes, and engagement whereas snapchat reveals the bare minimum. Advertisers and influencers claim that they need a lot more data to gage how their posts and stories perform, and what level of engagement they receive. This is much easier to do on Instagram and the quality of the breakdown is much richer.

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